Year Awarded 2017
FFAR award amount $790,407
Total award amount $1,580,814
Location Davis, CA
Matching Funders UC Davis Innovation Institute for Food and Health and the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
Grantee Institution University of California Davis
Moisture must be removed from agricultural products to preserve them for processing. Inadequately dried commodities account for about 60 percent of postharvest food loss worldwide. Insufficient drying can lead to fungi and negative health outcomes in animals and humans. Current drying methods are also highly energy intensive. University of California, Davis researchers are testing Drying Beads, which absorb water without heat. This technology could reduce energy usage by up to 50 percent and lower costs as the beads are reusable.